Give It Up

So what can nonprofits give up for Lent?

Give something up?? Are you kidding me? We're just barely making it as it is!

Hear me out. This blog has been brewing for days. Hope it's not too late. It is Ash Wednesday night.

In trying times, in a highly competitive landscape, it may be a good idea to do something counterintuitive. Unless you're on a really good roll, maybe a little change isn't a bad idea. Here are a few things you might consider changing for the next 40 days:

1) Give up meetings. Do you really need to have a staff meeting each week? A conference call every Monday? A board meeting every two months? You can still talk to these people if you really need to. A break in scheduled meetings will be a very refreshing change for people having trouble sleeping because of stress.

2) Give up editing every grant your grant writer puts in front of you. If you trust the person writing proposals, give them the responsibility to get it right and get it done. You'll get an extra few hours every week that you spend "improving" proposals. And you'll probably get more proposals submitted in 40 days than you have in the last 60 days.

3) Give up watching the news about how bad the economy is. At least give it up after 12pm so you can sleep better at night. Maybe the extra 15 minutes will give you more time to focus on your mission.

4) Give up an hour a week you spend on your assigned job and spend it with one of your constituents - client or donor. You'll be amazed at what you learn - and you'll probably do your job better.

5) Give up staying tuned to your regular source of news and information all day long. If you look for a new source every day for 40 days, chances are you'll find at least two or three keepers. Not a bad addition for a rapidly changing world.

That's it for for now. There have got to be more things we can give up. Stay tuned.

Hope to Fill Your Glass

On Christmas night just a few weeks ago, Ray Suarez asked: "When will the muscles in the back of your neck relax?"

During the 25 December edition of The Newshour on PBS, Suarez was talking to three exceptional leaders in the nonprofit world. The panel was composed of the development manager of the Salvation Army, the editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, and the president of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance. It could not have been a better summary of the challenges facing nonprofits during the current economic crisis.

You're best served by reading the transcript of this excellent interview. What follows is my summary and a few comments.

The glass is half full: it's a bad time for all charities, but social services giving for people in need has increased a little - just not enough to meet the growing demands.

The glass is half empty: If you're not involved with social services, hang on. The arts, the environment, and other parts of the public sector are incredibly important, but they will be in line behind the basic needs of people.

Charities lag the economy. The economy lags the market. The market has yet to turn around although there are small hints of new life. This means there's a "long row to hoe" during this new economy.

That row may last longer than many charities can stand. There are only so many ways to become more efficient and creative. Assuming the only people left on your bus are the right people, it is going to be a short bus ride if you cannot afford gas and tires.

People and foundations are prioritizing their giving. Corporations are barely thinking of giving. Nonprofits must prioritize their spending. Tension is increasing between donors and service providers.

It's tough to ignore the passion of the servant's heart, but the reality is either:
a) don't cut back on services and close the doors this summer or
b) scale back and try to make it to the end of the year. Depending upon how long the row is, you may well get to do it all over again next year.

Faith is an important element here. Yes, God will provide and can stop a locomotive. But He gave you the brains to get off the tracks before the train comes. Now is a time, not just for prayer, but for some thought leadership.

Forward thinking nonprofits will be looking for more partners, collaborators, volunteers, and even mergers. Is it all about you and your nonprofit - or is it really about who or what you serve? As with every crisis, there are opportunities.

Can some administrative services be combined with other nonprofits in your sector or geography? Is there someone willing to create an administrative outsourcing business for nonprofits? At what cost? Who can help peer organizations get past egos and come together to serve the common good?

The response to Suarez's question was that it's time to shift nonprofit thinking to the "new normal" (my words). There is an immediate need for survival. You must manage through this week and this month.

But the row may take many months to hoe. What are your plans for the new economy that does emerge next year - or the year after next? Are you ready to consolidate? to share resources? to share responsibilities?

The new economy is the new normal. There is help for the asking. Is it time to add some partners to your paceline?

There are answers to all these questions. There is hope - it is not a new concept.

Weather Tweets

It's a new year and time for many of us to start using our new toys. Over at Channel 8, ABC's affiliate in Dallas, WFAA TV is using Twitter to get the weather out.

The chief meteorologist, Pete Delkus, started sending tweets two days ago - right before the big ice storm.

Is this innovation by the corporation? Or did his teenage daughter embarrass him into using a new tool of the 21st Century? It doesn't matter. It's working. Good for him.

He's now got over a thousand followers. Lets see where this goes. If there's too much info, those tweets will fall into the area of noise. It will quickly get tuned out.

If it's timely and pertinent, that group of followers will continue to grow. Tornado season is still a few months away for Dallas. Check out how many peeps follow the tweets when big, black clouds start forming in the west.

Many nonprofits are already in their tornado season. Twitter may be a great resource for the stormy days ahead.

It's so simple. It's so cheap. Why aren't more nonprofits using it to get the word out??

Whether you want to send a quick update on the day's news to your followers, an urgent message to your staff or volunteers, or a dire plea for funds to your impulse donors you have little to lose and lots to gain.

Maybe it's time to embrace some change for the new year.

Who's on Your Bus?

Voltaire said "the perfect is the enemy of the good." Collins said that "good is the enemy of great."

Most of you know of Jim Collins, management consultant, teacher, author, and rock climber. His books include Built to Last (1994) and Good to Great (2001). In the latter, he studied 11 companies that made the leap from being merely good to being truly great. Their performance greatly exceeded that of their peers and resulted in sustainably extraordinary results for at least 15 years.

Out of his 11 outstanding performers in 2001, two are pretty iffy right now. Circuit City, struggling to remain profitable, is closing 155 stores and laying off 17% of workforce. Fannie Mae was recently placed into conservatorship.

But the rest, Abbott, Gillette (purchased by Proctor and Gamble in 2005), Kimberly-Clark, Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris (now a part of Altria Group), Pitney Bowes, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo, are at least hanging in there during these turbulent economic times. Getting it right on 9 out of 11 is not a bad grade especially in today's economy. The guy seems to know what he's talking about.

Back in the day - when times were good (2005) - Collins wrote an excellent monograph for those of us in the nonprofit world. Entitled Good to Great and the Social Sectors, he reemphasized principles that distinguish good (or mediocre) organizations from great ones. Note that he's not talking about business practices. He is talking about disciplines that benefit all organizations.

Today, in the nonprofit world, I believe one of his points is especially important. It's about getting the right people on the bus.

Unless you're living on another planet, you've already looked at your income and expense projections for the coming twelve months. You've undoubtedly looked at the sad prospect of making cuts. This is stewardship 101.

The tough choices get down to decisions on cutting programs or services (which will hurt your mission) or cutting staff (which is your most expensive cost). This is not a good time for anyone, but it is a vital time to ensure you have the right people on the bus, sitting in the right seats.

Nonprofits are often harder to reorganize than businesses for more complex relationship and emotional reasons. How do you tell an employee who's also a donor or church/auxiliary member that their performance is not good enough? What's the ripple effect among other volunteers if you eliminate a position or bring in a replacement volunteer?

Chances are you have some long-time, very nice, barely competent employees. Can you imagine not having that big smile and big heart around every day? But what if that wonderful person is not carrying the load? Or actually hurting the mission?

The bigger question is: during a recession, can you afford the luxury - the outreach to someone who's taking up a seat on the bus? This is the time when you have to be doing more with less. When the team has to be pulling together. When the paceline has to be working together to go further and faster with less effort.

Nonprofits are nearly always challenged by efficiency. This very difficult time may be the very best time to gently let someone off the bus, or move them to a seat they can share with someone else.

Please tell me that I don't sound like Dwight K. Schrute.

Collins concludes with some simple reminders: "The right people can often attract money, but money by itself can never attract the right people. Money is a commodity; talent is not. Time and talent can often compensate for lack of money, but money cannot ever compensate for lack of the right people."

What a remarkable opportunity exists now to strengthen your team for the long haul.

The Best and the Brightest

Wow! It's a challenging time for nonprofits right now. Heck. It's a challenging time for everyone.

How would you like to be the President Elect of the nation right now? I'm fascinated - and encouraged - by the team Barack Obama is putting together for the executive branch of our government. Part of my encouragement is that he is a good listener, and he is willing to listen to some great minds to help solve the myriad problems faced by the nation.

Some of those great minds were not necessarily his supporters over the last 12 months. Does this make it a team of egos or a team of rivals? Doris Kearns Goodwin writes about the latter in her fascinating study of Abraham Lincoln.

What kind of "cabinet" does your nonprofit have? Whether you define your cabinet as your key management team or your board of directors - or both - it's important to have a diverse mix of people around you.

You need encouraging, enthusiastic people to support you, but you cannot afford to have all "yes" people. You need positive people around you, but beware of those who won't tell you the truth about what's really happening. It's good to surround yourself with the best thinkers available, but beware of over thinking your problems.

History has not always been kind to the best and the brightest. Eight years ago, the new Bush administration pleased many people with its selection of leaders. Not many of those original choices get very good grades today.

Originally, the best and the brightest referred to the people chosen to work in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. David Halberstam wrote a book by that title. With the clear vision of hindsight, we can see that those leaders of the 60's didn't manage things all that well either.

Based on history, it may be a mistake to assume that you will ensure success by stocking your nonprofit with the best and the brightest. But to avoid getting the best and the brightest people "on the bus" may be a greater mistake.

Supportive, positive - but not non-critical - people who are thinkers and listeners can go a long way towards success. With that, there's one more mistake to avoid.

All thinking and no action will get you nowhere.

Hope is Not a Strategy

There's lots of hope in the air these days. With two wars going on, the economy in a shambles, both poles melting, and another half dozen issues over which to wring your hands, you'd better have hope.

As my friend Mark told me: "Both candidates have pledged to lower my taxes, improve my healthcare, make sure my children will be well educated and have clean air to breathe in a country with perfectly safe borders. So regardless of who wins the election, things will get better starting next week. They promised."

It's sort of amusing to see these guys on the national stage selling hope. Often during my long sales career, I spent more time than I wanted selling hope during sales forecast reviews. When the sales aren't there - they aren't there. But try telling that to hardheaded, pollyanna sales managers. When they can't handle reality, it's time to start selling hope.

Now I don't mean to be coming down hard on hope or optimism. We know from life - and the Good Book - that trials create endurance; endurance creates character; and character creates hope. Hope does not disappoint as long as it's placed in the right direction. I've got plenty of hope. I'd like to skip that trials / endurance / character building thing as much as possible in the future.

When it comes to optimism I have gained some wisdom over the last few decades. I am a "recovering obsessor." Yes, I've worried about a lot of small - and big - things that just never turned out to be a problem. It's taken me a while, but I've learned there really is a reason to be optimistic. That's based on personal history.

When you look at national and world history, economists are telling us that things will be okay - eventually. The presidential candidates are certainly telling us this. I do believe this to be true.

But historical knowledge is only based on what has been observed. For many dozen centuries, people believed that only white swans existed. Then Dutch explorers, in 1697, discovered a black swan in Australia.

Based on this improbable discovery, Nassim Taleb has written a philosophy book about our exposure to rare events. There's a fascinating PBS interview with him and the mathematician with whom he studied. This book may not be a page turner, but it does have some important implications for nonprofits.

The world grows smaller and more complex each day. Fragility, unintended consequences, and more interdependence affects us all - at work, at home, throughout the community. What are we going to do about it?

Last month I asked many questions, all related to change for your nonprofit. Of course, now I have more questions.

Are you exposed in the current economy? Are you preparing to make changes? Do you have some real plans for what's next?

What is your strategy? Is it hope?

The Times, They Are A Changin'

Bob Dylan sang that over four decades ago. It's still true. Read any newspapers lately? Watched any newscasts lately? There's lots of speculation out there. The only thing certain is that we're about to see change like we've never seen it before.

So far, the news is mostly about the commercial world. The Chron and the AFP magazine, Advancing Philanthropy, are doing a pretty good job of summarizing the potential effects on nonprofits. How are you going to manage change?

Paul Otellini is the current CEO of Intel, the world's largest manufacturer of microprocessors. He's a good one for nonprofit ED's to use as a model.

Hmmmm. Okay. You're saying: Intel, $40 something billion a year. My heart and soul cause for good, $400K/year....give or take a few hundred thousand dollars. Exactly how do we make this comparison?

In the WSJ this Saturday, Otellini gave some interesting opinions on management. He said, "A CEO's main job, because you have access to all the information, is to see the need to change before anyone else does."

What's the job of an ED? To meet the mission. Take care of your clients. Maintain relationships with donors. Clearly present the cause with passion. Take care of your staff so they'll take care of you.

You have all the information. You're undoubtedly watching expenses and double checking your revenue forecast. Are you seeing the need to change?

Now is also a very good time to eliminate duplicate services. Who can help you? Where can you partner? Who can join you in the paceline? There are some unhealthy nonprofits that will not survive the next year. That change may be sad, but not necessarily bad.

Who (what organization) can provide the best service for the clients? Once the egos get put aside, that question is often easier to answer.

If your organization is struggling to make it, do you see the need to change? Now is a good time to look at options to merge with a like minded partner.

If your organization is strong, will it stay strong forever? Do you see the need to change? Now is a good time to join forces with a like minded partner.

Merging organizations is never easy, but change is always necessary.